


don't let another day go by my love

by woodchoc_magnum



Series: love will find a way [2]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Christopher Diaz Has Two Dads, Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Domestic Fluff, Eddie Diaz Week 2020 (9-1-1 TV), Eddie Diaz-centric (9-1-1 TV), Family Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship, Soft Eddie Diaz, Soft evan buckley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27488254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woodchoc_magnum/pseuds/woodchoc_magnum
Summary: Day 2: “I love it when you smile” / “I just love seeing you smile” + FluffIn which Buck causes mischief at a firefam picnic.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: love will find a way [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2005498
Comments: 41
Kudos: 313





	don't let another day go by my love

"Dad," Christopher called. "Dad!"

"Coming," Eddie called from the kitchen, trying to organise the cupcakes he'd hastily baked the night before in a way that they didn't look completely awful (decorating wasn't his strong suit).

"DAD!"

That sounded urgent, so Eddie abandoned the cupcakes and hurried down the hall to Christopher's room. "What's wrong? You okay?"

Christopher was sitting on the bed, a sweater half over his head, buttons caught on his hair. "Help," he said, his voice muffled.

Eddie laughed, helping to untangle him, and then tugging the sweater down and over his head. "Get stuck, bud?"

"I hate this stupid sweater," Christopher complained.

"I know, but you gotta wear it, because Athena bought it for you, and she terrifies me." Eddie made sure Christopher's shirt sleeves weren't bunched underneath the sweater, and tucked his shirt into his pants, before cupping his face. "You look great."

"Why are we going to a picnic?" Christopher asked, his hands resting on Eddie's arms. "I want to stay home."

"Don't you want to see Denny and Harry?" Eddie asked, kneeling in front of him. "Buck's coming as well. He's going to pick us up."

At the mention of Buck's name, Christopher brightened. "Okay."

"It's going to be fun," Eddie promised him. "There's a playground, and there'll be lots of food, and—"

"Diaz boys!" Buck's voice wafted through the house as the front door banged open. "Where are you?"

"In here!" Eddie called. "Okay, shoes on – do you want to wear those reindeer socks Abuela gave you last year?"

"No, I hate them," Christopher said bluntly.

Buck leaned in through the open door, smiling brightly at them. "What's going on?"

"He hates the sweater, he hates the socks…" Eddie murmured, rifling through Christopher's chest of drawers. "Hey, Buck, can you please go and make the cupcakes look good?"

"You baked? I love it when you bake stuff," Buck replied, disappearing down the hallway.

Eddie found a pair of snowmen socks and turned to Christopher, holding them up for his approval. "These?"

Christopher nodded. "Okay."

"They're cute." Eddie usually let Christopher dress himself, but feeling as though they were late – a quick glance at his watch confirmed that they definitely _were_ – he quickly slipped the socks on and grabbed his shoes.

Christopher rested his hands on Eddie's shoulders, leaning over him, and whispered, "Dad, you're stressed, stop being so stressed."

Eddie let out a breath, glancing up at him. "Sorry buddy."

"It's just a party."

"I know." Eddie gave him a swift kiss on the cheek and helped him off the bed. "Come on - let's see what Buck is doing to the cupcakes."

Buck was standing in the kitchen, carefully placing cupcakes into a red Tupperware container. "These are meant to be snowmen, right?"

"Shut up," Eddie grumbled. "Like you could do better."

"Mr shaky hands over here." Buck flashed him a grin. "You guys ready? Maddie's already sent me five messages this morning wanting me to pick up stuff. I thought she and Athena were more organised than this."

"I feel like it was a last-minute idea because everyone will be away over Christmas, and now they're panicking," Eddie replied, grabbing some drinks from the fridge.

"But you're staying in town, right?"

"Yeah, we're having Christmas with Abuela. What are you doing?"

Buck shrugged. "I don't know. Maddie invited me to Christmas with Chimney and Albert, and Chim's family, but—"

"If you don't want to do that you should come with us," Eddie suggested. "If Maddie's okay with it."

"Yeah, if that's cool?" Buck asked hopefully. "I could bring stuff; I could help in the kitchen—"

"Oh god, Buck, don't offer that, you won't get a chance to sit down all day," Eddie said, filling up his cooler bag with drinks. "Chris, you good? You're ready? Where's your hat?"

"Dad," Christopher complained. "Stop stressing."

"I'm not stressing."

Buck closed the lid on the cupcakes and said quietly, "You are. Chill, Eds."

Eddie huffed out a breath, preparing to make a snarky comment in reply, but Buck's hand closed over his and squeezed lightly. They exchanged a look, and he nodded once.

~

Maddie and Athena had chosen a nice, shady area in Griffith Park, and when Eddie, Christopher and Buck arrived, everyone else was already there. Maddie strode over to them, heavily pregnant, wagging a finger at Buck. "You're late!"

"I had to pick up the boys," Buck replied, grabbing bags from the back of his jeep. "Do you need something else?"

"Just a hug from Christopher," Maddie said, bending over and holding her arms out to embrace Christopher warmly. "I feel like you've grown another foot since the last time I saw you!"

Christopher laughed, looking up at Eddie for confirmation. Eddie ruffled his hair and said, "He's going to be taller than Buck; that's the goal."

"Ha ha," Buck said, handing Eddie the cupcake box. "Always a competition with you two."

Maddie kissed Eddie on the cheek, eyeing the cupcakes. "Homemade?"

"He bakes; the man bakes," Buck boasted.

Eddie gave him a long-suffering look. "I bake occasionally and usually for school stuff," he corrected modestly. "But I'm pretty good at cupcakes. Just not good at decorating them."

"They look great. Come on."

They followed her over to the group, and almost instantly Denny and Harry made a beeline for Christopher, the three traipsing off to the playground together. Eddie watched Christopher for a moment, before taking a seat beside Chimney at the table, and accepting a glass of iced tea from Athena.

Buck slipped into the seat beside him, their shoulders brushing together. Eddie sipped his tea and listened to the conversation – Chimney boasting about what a great father he was going to be, followed by a pile-on from Hen, Karen, Athena, Michael and Bobby about how hard raising children actually was, and all the things he was going to look forward to, like never sleeping, middle-of-the-night feedings, vomit, poop, constant screaming, which had both Chimney and Maddie exchanging worried looks.

Eddie hoped no one would ask him about what Christopher was like as a baby. He was half paying attention to the conversation and half watching Christopher, and when he saw him begin to carefully ascend one of the ladders to a playhouse, he stood up instinctively, left the table, and jogged over to the playground.

"Chris," he called, and Christopher's head popped out of a window. "Buddy, be careful."

"I am," Christopher protested.

"Just don't go up any higher, all right?" Eddie was well aware that he sounded like the world's most annoying father, but he couldn't help it. The last thing he wanted was for his son to fall and hurt himself.

"Okay," Christopher called, disappearing into the structure again.

Eddie decided to hang around, sitting down on the grass, his eyes trained on Christopher until he began to climb out of the playhouse. Denny and Harry helped him, and when Christopher was on solid ground again, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"You are such a worried dad," Buck teased, dropping down onto the grass beside him. "What's got you all stirred up?"

"I'm not stirred up," he replied, narrowing his eyes at Buck playfully. "I just don't want him to get hurt."

"Harry and Denny are keeping an eye on him." Buck pulled out a couple of strands of grass, turning his face to the sky. "You've been tense all day. What's wrong?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Just… worried about Christmas, I guess."

"Why?"

Eddie screwed his face up. "He asked about Shannon the other day, and—" his voice caught in his throat, and he had to swallow a few times, shaking his head. "It's just hard."

"Well, at least we have the day off this year," Buck pointed out. "We could make it special for him."

"How?"

"I don't know… but I could think of some ideas." Buck flashed him an impish smile. "I'm good at cheering you two up."

"Dad!" Christopher suddenly shouted. "There's a caterpillar! Come look!"

Eddie exchanged a look with Buck and rose to his feet, dusting his jeans off and jogging over to where Denny and Christopher were examining a small green bush. Harry had abandoned them and was over with the rest of the adults, filling a plate with food.

Eddie stood behind Christopher and peered into the bushes. Sure enough, a bright green, very fat caterpillar was chowing down on a leaf, slowly but surely.

"Got any caterpillar facts, Buck?" Eddie asked him.

Buck shook his head. "They turn into butterflies; that's about it. He's a fat one."

"Could be a she."

"Nah, that's a he. Look at the size of it, Eds. That thing's manly."

The boys were giggling, but Christopher shrieked when Buck extended a finger and touched the caterpillar's back. "Don't hurt it!"

Buck shook his head. "I'm just touching him. He likes it." The caterpillar was completely unfazed, too focused on its meal.

"Buck, can you give me a piggy back ride?" Denny asked, tugging on Buck's shirt.

"Sure," Buck agreed, forgetting about the caterpillar almost instantly. "How about we race Eddie and Chris?"

"I don't recall agreeing to this," Eddie complained, but Christopher was already tugging on his shirt frantically. "Okay, okay. Crutches off," he said, helping Christopher to set them down on the ground, before kneeling with his back to him. Christopher's arms went around his neck and Eddie stood, heaving him up, holding onto his legs.

Buck flashed him a grin, lining up beside him. "First one to the end of the field," he said.

"Be specific," Eddie retorted. "I know you'll cheat. Where's the finish line?"

"First one to touch the palm tree!" Denny shouted, pointing to a lone palm tree in the distance.

"Okay," Eddie agreed, having no doubt that Buck, with his long giraffe legs, would beat them easily.

"Ready – set – GO!" Buck shouted, and they dashed across the grass.

What Eddie wasn't expecting was that Buck's shoelaces were already loose, and somewhere along the way they slipped undone. The next thing he knew, Buck and Denny were tumbling onto the grass together, laughing hysterically, one of Buck's shoes hanging off his feet.

Eddie and Christopher strolled leisurely to the palm tree and touched it, just to declare victory, before returning to them. Denny was practically beating Buck up as he laughed and tried to fend off tiny, playfully angry fists.

"What happened?" Eddie asked, dropping onto the ground beside them. Christopher slid off his back but leaned over his shoulders, draping himself on Eddie's back.

"He can't tie his shoes!" Denny shouted at Buck, who snorted again. "Rematch?"

"No, buddy, I think I'm done for," Buck said apologetically. "I'll make it up to you – see the red box over there next to your mom?"

Denny turned to look, his eyes narrowing. "Yes."

"If you go get that box and bring it here, I think you'll be very pleased."

"Okay!" Denny sprinted over to the rest of the group.

Eddie said, "You're getting him to steal the cupcakes that I made?"

"Yeah." Buck grinned at him lazily. "Sure. Why not?"

"Did you trip on purpose?"

"No, actually, I didn't," Buck replied, "and I hurt my knee, so I'm just going to chill here for a bit and let Denny bring me food."

"Evil."

"It was worth it to see you two smiling when you won," Buck replied, gazing at them affectionately. "I love it when you smile."

Eddie wasn't sure who he was talking to – him or Christopher – and he couldn't help but blush.

There was a sudden commotion from the group, Hen calling for Denny as he sprinted back towards them with the bright red Tupperware container. "Buck!" Hen suddenly shouted, realising who was responsible. "Stop corrupting my son!"

Buck waved to her as Denny arrived with the cupcakes, handing the container to Buck breathlessly. He opened the lid and gave Denny first pick, before extending the box to Christopher.

Both Hen and Karen were descending on them with thunderous looks on their faces, but it was too late – Denny had chocolate frosting on his nose and chin; Buck had one cupcake in his mouth and another in his hand, and Christopher was giggling helplessly in Eddie's lap, holding a cupcake of his own.

"Honestly, you two are incorrigible," Karen complained, snatching the box back from Buck. "Eddie made these for everyone."

"I thought he made them for me," Buck said with a cocky grin.

Hen gave Eddie a wink as she picked up Denny, and said, "Maybe you should come back with us and leave these three to annoy each other," she said to him, but Denny already had the spoils of war all over his face, and he gave Buck a chocolatey grin as she carried him away.

Eddie wondered what that wink was about, an uncomfortable feeling creeping up his spine, but Buck wordlessly handed him the second cupcake and let out an, " _Oof_ ," as Christopher slid off Eddie's lap and made himself comfortable on the grass, using Buck as a seat.

Eddie peeled the paper off his cupcake, gazing at them, and when Buck flashed him an easy, lazy smile, he relaxed. The wink meant nothing.

~to be continued~

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Kat ([cinematicnomad](https://cinematicnomad.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr) for all your help!
> 
> The title is from [(Just Like) Starting Over by John Lennon](https://youtu.be/pZCxyOcvp5A)
> 
> Talk to me @ Tumblr: [woodchoc-magnum](https://woodchoc-magnum.tumblr.com/)


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